# The &kappname; Handbook

## Introduction

### Gametype:

Arcade, Board

### Number of possible players:

One

&kappname; is a solitaire like game played using the standard set of Mahjong tiles. Unlike Mahjong however, &kappname; has only one layer of scrambled tiles. You can remove matching pieces if they can be connected with a line with no more than two bends in it. At the same time, the line must not cross any other tiles. To win a game of &kappname; the player has to remove all the tiles off the game board.

## How to Play

### Objective:

Remove all the tiles off the game board within the shortest time possible.

&kappname; will load a default layout automatically once you start the game and you can start playing right away.

You should carefully study the tiles lied out on the game board and find two tiles matching exactly. When you have found such a pair use your mouse to select these.

Once you select a right pair of tiles they will vanish off the game board. However, even if the tiles you select appear as open they will only be removed off the board if they can be connected with a line having no more than two bends and not crossing any other tiles (the line cannot be diagonal).

Find as many matches as possible to remove all the tiles from the game board.

## Game Rules, Strategies and Tips

### Rules

Standard Mahjong set of tiles includes:

Group name | Tile name | Quantity in a set
Dots |  |
| 1 of Dots | 2
| 2 of Dots | 2
| 3 of Dots | 2
| 4 of Dots | 2
| 5 of Dots | 2
| 6 of Dots | 2
| 7 of Dots | 2
| 8 of Dots | 2
| 9 of Dots | 2
Bamboos |  |
| 1 of Bamboos | 2
| 2 of Bamboos | 2
| 3 of Bamboos | 2
| 4 of Bamboos | 2
| 5 of Bamboos | 2
| 6 of Bamboos | 2
| 7 of Bamboos | 2
| 8 of Bamboos | 2
| 9 of Bamboos | 2
Characters |  |
| 1 of Characters | 2
| 2 of Characters | 2
| 3 of Characters | 2
| 4 of Characters | 2
| 5 of Characters | 2
| 6 of Characters | 2
| 7 of Characters | 2
| 8 of Characters | 2
| 9 of Characters | 2
Winds |  |
| East Wind | 2
| South Wind | 2
| West Wind | 2
| North Wind | 2
Dragons |  |
| Red Dragon | 2
| Green Dragon | 2
| White Dragon | 2
Flowers |  |
| Plum (1) | 1
| Lily (2) | 1
| Chrysanthemum (3) | 1
| Bamboo (4) | 1
Seasons |  |
| Spring (1) | 1
| Summer (2) | 1
| Autumn (3) | 1
| Winter (4) | 1

- Matching tiles are such tiles where the face pictograms match exactly.

#### Note:

There are exceptions to this rule! In the traditional game of Mahjong each tile has a matching one except for the Flowers and Seasons tiles.

- The Flowers tiles have no doubles in the set and can be matched directly to each-other.

- The Seasons tiles have no doubles in the set and can be matched directly to each-other.

- Tiles can only be removed if they can be connected with a maximum of three connected lines that do not cross any other tile. Lines can be horizontal or vertical, but not diagonal.

#### Note:

You don't have to draw the lines by yourself, the game does this for you. Just mark two matching tiles on the board, if they can be connected by a line with no more than two bends, the line is drawn and the tiles are removed.

- Lines may only cross the empty border.

- Some games are unsolvable. If you would like to avoid unsolvable games uncheck the option Allow unsolvable games in the configuration dialog.

- The scores are awarded for the time the player needs to remove all the tiles from the game board. Games with more tiles give more scores.

- If you played with the Gravity setting enabled, the score will be doubled.

- To be eligible for a place amongst the high scores player has to complete a game instance within the shortest period of time possible.

#### Note:

If the player uses cheat feature his/her record will not be considered as a high score.

## Interface Overview

### The Game Menu

The Game menu lets you control the status of the current game:

&Ctrl; N Game New

- Finish the actual game set and start a new session with new tiles.

F5 Game Restart Game

- Restart the current game with the same tiles.

P Game Pause

- Pauses the entire game, especially the timer which affects the scoring. The menu entry is also used for resuming the game.

&Ctrl;H Game Show High Scores

- Shows the (local) Top-Ten charts of &kappname;.

&Ctrl;Q Game Quit

- Quits &kappname;.

Some of the menu items can also be controlled by keyboard shortcuts. See key-bindings for a list.

### The Move Menu

&Ctrl;Z Move Undo

- Undo the last step. Same as the Undo button in the toolbar.

&Ctrl;&Shift;Z Move Redo

- Redo the last step. Same as the Redo button in the toolbar.

H Move Hint

- Show a tip, which two tiles to remove next.

### The Settings Menu

Settings Show Toolbar

- Toggle on and off the display of the toolbar.

Settings Show Statusbar

- Toggle on and off the display of the status bar.

Settings Configure Shortcuts...

- Open a dialog which lets you redefine all the keyboard shortcuts.

Settings Configure Toolbars...

- Displays a &kde; standard dialog where you can configure the toolbar icons.

Settings Configure &kappname;...

- Opens the configuration dialog to change &kappname; settings.

### The Help Menu

&help.menu.documentation;

## Frequently asked questions

I want to change the way this game looks. Can I?

Yes. To change the way &kappname; looks use the menubar to open the configuration utility.

Can I use keyboard?

No. This game does not feature a keyboard play mode.

I have to quit the game now, but I am not finished yet. Can I save my progress?

No. This game does not feature a Save option.

## Game Configuration

Selecting the Settings Configure &kappname;... menu item will open a configuration dialog which lets you alter the behavior of the game.

&kappname; configuration dialog &kappname; configuration dialog

Gravity

- Checking this makes the game even harder: If a tile is removed, all tiles lying above it will fall down one step.

Allow unsolvable games

- If checked, you run the risk of being presented with games that are impossible to solve. Note: Even when not checked, you will fail to complete a game if you remove the tiles in the wrong order!

Use Chinese style: any flower matches any flower, any season match any season

- Use the traditional rules for matching the tiles. Previous version of &kappname; used to allow only exact tiles matches, which is inconsistent with Mahjongg rules. It is recommended to keep this option checked.

Tiles can slide, but you can connect only in 2 lines instead of 3

- This option changes the rules to the point where it almost becomes a completely different game. When it is active, you can only remove the tiles if they can be connected by a line consisting of only two segments instead of the customary three. However, you are allowed to slide the tiles on the board, if the row or column where they are placed has some empty space. To make a sliding move, you have to click on the tile containing the column or row that can slide, and then on the matching tile. If there are two possible sliding moves, you will have to click on one of the two connecting lines to chose your preferred move.

Board Difficulty

- The slider controls the difficulty of the board from Easy to Hard.

Piece Removal Speed

- Adjusting this slider alters the speed at which the pieces are removed from the screen after a match has been made.

Tile Size

- This slider allows you to can change the number of tiles on the board. The more tiles you have, the harder (and longer) the game will be.

Help

- Opens &kappname; help pages (this document).

OK

- Saves your changes and closes the dialog.

Apply

- Saves your changes but doesn't close the dialog.

Cancel

- Cancels all your changes and closes the dialog.

### Default Key Bindings

Default shortcuts are:

New | &Ctrl;N
Restart Game | F5
Pause | P
Show High Scores | &Ctrl;H
Quit | &Ctrl;Q
Undo | &Ctrl;Z
Redo | &Ctrl;&Shift;Z
Hint | H
&kappname; Handbook | F1
What's This | &Ctrl;&Shift;F1

## Credits and License

&kappname; Copyright 1997 &Mario.Weilguni; &Mario.Weilguni.mail;

Copyright 2002-2004 Dave Corrie kde@davecorrie.com

Documentation Copyright 2000 &Dirk.Doerflinger; ddoerflinger@gmx.net

&underFDL; &underGPL;

## Installation

&install.intro.documentation;

### Compilation and Installation

&install.compile.documentation;
&documentation.index;